No One Can Run Forever
by Hard Luck Woman1
Summary: One Bounty. One ghost from Spike's past; a life that is dead to him. Can the group catch the bounty, and can Spike face those he left behind? Or will he run from it all, again? No one can run forever...


Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop or any of the original characters.  
  
No One Can Run Forever  
  
Spike yawned deeply as he sat upon one of the vivid yellow couches reading. Perhaps reading wasn't quite the word, considering all he ever seemed to be capable of was staring at the small words upon the pages. He couldn't concentrate and the words all seemed blurred, and as though they were that of a different language. He was tired, he knew that. He had been out all yesterday and last night trying to catch a bounty head. A wasted effort, taking into account that he hadn't caught the bounty, and all he got out of it was a devastated Swordfish.  
  
However, perhaps the drowsiness that he was feeling went further than all that. He stretched his long limbs and felt his stiff muscles loosen under the strain. He was tired: physically, emotionally, and mentally. Traveling around the universe, drifting around aimlessly throughout the stars like some lost tumbleweed, looking for a new bounty. He never stayed in one place for long, and the only place he knew he could return to was the Bebop. Bounty hunting was a lonely job, and though he was quite accustomed to the solitude that being a cowboy brought, he still couldn't grow adjusted to the feelings it brought. Knowing that there was no one he could relate to; no one he could really trust. However, Spike wasn't one to open up so easily and just spill everything he was bottling inside him. Perhaps there was someone he could trust, but he wouldn't allow himself to. He sighed deeply; it seemed to him as though he were a bounty hunter for much longer than just three years.  
  
Spike placed his book upon the table beside him and turned the television on with a push of his finger. As usual, Big Shot was on. Spike watched with distant amusement as Punch and Judy did their usual opening bit of riding around on poorly designed fake horses. It was only when they began to announce the new bounties that he fully paid attention.  
  
"Hi amigos and all 300,000 bounty hunters in the star system! How ya'll doin?!"  
  
"Now it's time for another Big Shot!" Judy exclaimed animatedly in her cheery singsong voice. "Congratulations to the bounty hunter who caught 'Slick-fingered' Sam! Him and his one million bounty were claimed today! Sorry to all the other cowboys. Good luck next time!" Judy punctuated her last statement by winking at the camera.  
  
"Today, we've got the biggest bounty ever in Big Shot history!"  
  
"Oooh, who is it, Punch?!"  
  
"His name is Kasmira. And the bounty is 500 million woolongs!" Punch exclaimed elatedly as confetti fell from the ceiling of the set, and a large sign behind the two hosts blinked in large red letters '500,000,000.'  
  
Spike immediately shot up from his laying position. Using his finger, he cleaned out his ear, not believing what he had just heard. He could hear faint footsteps tapping softly upon the floor behind him. Spike craned his neck to see who the approaching individual was, and then upon identification, he returned to the screen again.  
  
"Five hundred million?" a seductive woman's voice asked from behind Spike. Faye crossed the small living area and sat upon the seat across from Spike. She was wearing a bathrobe and drying her dripping violet tendrils of hair with a small towel. She gazed at the television screen, too. With the debts that were forever lingering precariously over her head, five-hundred million was too big of a bounty to just watch pass by.  
  
"What did he do, Punch?" Judy asked inquiringly.  
  
Punch shrugged his shoulders simply in response. "No one knows. Nothing is known about this new bad guy except his name and picture. The bounty came direct from ISSP themselves, and no other information was given to Big Shot. Here's the picture."  
  
Next, the screen changed to show a photograph of a man with long, silver hair that resembled fine silvery strands of spider web. He had eyes of fiery sapphire, and. Spike's eyes trailed down the photograph to the chest.  
  
"Oh my, a woman?" Judy asked in blatant surprise.  
  
Punch's jaw was plainly draped open in surprise as well. "Uh, well. she'll be a tough bounty, partner," Punch said finally at a loss for words.  
  
"Good luck!" Judy stated as she blew a kiss to the camera.  
  
Faye tossed the towel on the chair's armrest and bent forward to turn off the television. As she did, she looked up at Spike who seemed oddly distant. He was staring at the blank screen intently. He seemed more to be staring through the screen, rather than gazing at it, however. It was as though he was in some deep thought that took his entire concentration to achieve. Spike's face was stern and expressionless, his lips were pressed into a thin line, and his brow was furrowed. His eyes were unfocused and seemed as though they were on a different plane of reality than Faye. She ogled at Spike with a questioning look upon her delicate structures.  
  
"Spike?" she asked somewhat hesitantly.  
  
His two-toned eyes suddenly came back to life; back from their alternate plane. He focused his eyes upon Faye, and ran a hand through his untidy mass of olive hair before finally saying anything. "I. think I know her," he stated, his voice oddly out of character. His voice was misty and resembled that of a voice one would use when reminiscing about the past.  
  
Faye narrowed her puzzled eyes into slender emerald slits. "What? You know her?" Faye asked dubiously as her jade gems slid to the blank television screen as if expecting to see the woman's picture magically reappeared.  
  
Spike nodded solemnly. "But it was a long time ago," he replied, his voice misty.  
  
"You know the 500 million bounty?" Faye asked incredulously.  
  
"Yeah," he replied in almost a whisper.  
  
Faye's skepticism faded when she noticed how serious Spike seemed to have gotten over seeing this girl whom he once knew. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, why it was that the mention of this Kasmira suddenly caused him to go distant, but she knew better than to ask. He wouldn't answer her anyway.  
  
"I need to call Jet," Spike stated finally.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Jet walked out of the police station, carrying his money card and looking at it disconsolately. "Only a one million bounty. After repairs and payment for damage, I'm left with less than half," he stated to himself, as if he were talking to some imaginary person. He sighed deeply. "I never catch a break," he said desperately as he passed a hand over his balding head.  
  
Jet gradually made his way back to the Hammerhead, which was now much like the Swordfish in that it, too, was now badly beaten. He slipped the money card into his pocket, and leisurely walked around his ship, appraising the damage, and inspecting every inch of it. The ship was hardly recognizable. The cockpit glass was split, large spidery cracks ran across the length of it. The metal structure was bent and twisted in different areas, distorting the appearance greatly. He grunted loudly and kicked the ship hard with his right foot. Consequently, a small metal gear fell from beneath the ship. He looked down at it miserably, and sighed heavily again.  
  
He began to climb into the cockpit when he heard a dulled ringing noise. Jet reached into his left pocket and pulled out his videophone. He clicked it on, and saw Spike's face on the other end. "Where are you?" Spike asked impatiently.  
  
"Mars. I just nabbed the bounty. Though after repairs, we're left with less than 500-"  
  
"Come back to the ship," Spike intruded.  
  
Jet was stunned. "What? Why?" he asked slightly puzzled.  
  
"There's a new bounty. Five hundred million."  
  
"Five hundred million?!" Jet exclaimed in disbelief. "What'd he do? Murder Venus?"  
  
"Just get back to the ship, Jet," Spike repeated, obviously not being amused by Jet.  
  
"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Jet replied rather gruffly. He put the phone back into his pocket bitterly. "Since when did he order me around?" he asked himself sourly. His small cobalt eyes cast a sidelong glance to examine his ship again. A small smile flickered across his face, washing away his slight acidity. "Five hundred million." he proclaimed in wonder, his mind racing forward to all the ways he'd spend the bounty.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Jet strolled back into the Bebop happily daydreaming of ways he would spend the bounty if he were to ever catch him. However, his contentment was washed from his face as he observed the expression that Spike held. He was standing in the corner of the room, leaning again a far wall, his face tilted up. He was staring absently at the ceiling fan, watching the blades rotate in their stationary orbit. He appeared separated from the rest of the Bebop, as though he weren't actually there. Jet's eyes next landed on Faye who had changed out of her bathrobe and was dressed within her familiar yellow outfit. Her body was sprawled across the plastic yellow couch almost blending in amongst the yellow. She was filing her nails indolently, as if waiting for something exciting to happen.  
  
Jet rubbed the back of his head. "What's wrong?" his voice inquired, echoing through the silent Bebop.  
  
Faye's eyes snapped upward to observe Jet, as though she wasn't aware that he was standing there. And perhaps she wasn't. She sighed simply in response to Jet's inquiry and nodded her head in Spike's direction, deflecting Jet's attention to the incongruously remote Spike.  
  
"Spike?" he asked a bit tentatively, unsure of what had happened during his absence from the Bebop.  
  
Spike's eyes flickered down from the ceiling and focused on Jet's muscular stature. "Yeah?" he asked evenly, as though he were perfectly normal.  
  
Jet exhaled deeply and walked to the seat adjacent from Faye. His eyes wavered from the coolly indifferent Faye, to the aberrant Spike. "Would someone mind filling me in on what happened while I was gone?" he asked, his voice sounding drained, as though his energy was spent.  
  
Faye placed the nail filer on the coffee table beside her and sat up, facing Jet who was positioned across from her. "There's a new bounty. Five- hundred million," she said as though this were fresh news to Jet.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I know that already. Spike told me," Jet replied edgily.  
  
"Did he also care to inform you that he knows the bounty?" Faye asked her emerald eyes twinkling, as a faint smile played across her small ruby lips. Her eyes glanced up as she heard Spike approaching. He walked past her and situated himself next to Faye, his feet placed upon the table before him.  
  
"I knew her," Spike corrected, as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes as though trying to rest.  
  
"How do you know her, Spike?" Jet said, interested.  
  
"Knew," Spike corrected again.  
  
"Was she a love from your past?" Faye inquired, her voice mocking.  
  
"Yeah, right," Spike replied simply.  
  
"Then how did you know her? Why can't you just tell us?" Jet questioned as his voice began to rise slightly. He wanted to catch the bounty as quickly as he could, so he could begin spending it already.  
  
"She's.," Spike paused as if determining how to carefully word his statement," from my past," he said finally.  
  
Faye threw her hands into the air and rolled her eyes. "Well, that clears up everything!" she proclaimed sardonically. "Honestly," she huffed.  
  
However, Jet knew Spike better than Faye did, and he saw through the thin barrier which Spike was trying to place around himself. He saw past Spike's vague wording. "Your past," he echoed thoughtfully. "You don't mean, the Red Dragons?" he asked, already knowing the answer to his question.  
  
Spike sighed and glanced away. "Yeah."  
  
Faye's gem eyes widened as her eyes transitioned from Spike to Jet and back again. "You know her from the Syndicate?" she asked almost dubiously. Her words were met by silence. Spike was staring away from everyone, as if trying to remove himself from his surroundings, while Jet lit up a cigarette and was puffing out small clouds of smoke that faded away above him. Faye was lost in concentration herself, remembering her encounter with Vicious. Vicious; another person from Spike's past in the Syndicate. She didn't know much of what occurred while Spike was in the Syndicate, but she had a suspicion that it couldn't be anything good.  
  
The tense silence was interrupted by Ed as she waltzed into the living quarters happily giggling with Ein balanced carefully upon her head. She paused momentarily, however, as she scanned her surroundings. She then grabbed Ein and threw him playfully into the air and caught him, placing him on the ground before bending into a handstand. She walked on her hands towards the silent group, swishing her feet about as if waving. When none of them seemed to pay any attention to her, she fell back into a sitting position. Ein trotted beside her and barked. Ed grabbed him and began to talk. "Bebop-Bebop is saaaad," she said in her cheery voice.  
  
Jet put out his cigarette in an ashtray upon the table, and turned to face Ed. She looked up at him through her large round eyes. "Ed, can you help us find information on a new bounty?" he asked.  
  
Ed's face broke into a large grin before putting on her goggles. "Yeess."  
  
"Look up information on a Kasmira who's also part of the Red Dragon Syndicate," Jet commanded.  
  
"Okaay!" Ed turned and began to skillfully type away on Tomato. Faye craned her neck toward the computer screen with mild interest, while Spike did the same. Within seconds, a grunt came from her small structure.  
  
"What's wrong?" Jet inquired.  
  
"There's protection on it," she replied, her voice less cheery than before and now taking on a slight twinge of acrimony.  
  
"Try hacking into it, Ed," Jet commanded.  
  
"Ed knows," Ed stated before letting her fingers fly across the keyboard again. Another grunt. "Ed can't hack," she said sadly.  
  
"Why not? Try a different program," Jet said his voice growing impatient.  
  
"Okay." Ed then did as Jet told, letting a different hacking program appear before the screen. This attempt was just as futile, however. "No use," she said finally with a shrug of her petite shoulders.  
  
"Aren't you the famous Edward who can hack into anything?" Faye inquired, finally saying something.  
  
"We're trying to get into high-security information from the Syndicate," Spike pointed out. "If they're smart, they put up extra security barriers around the info."  
  
"But why? Isn't she just a regular bounty?" Faye said.  
  
"Maybe not," Jet intruded. "If even Ed can't hack into it, then she's more than just a bounty. They're trying to limit the information on her. Make it harder to catch her. If she's high-ranking within the Syndicate, I'll bet that they wouldn't want her to get caught. And you can be sure they'll do whatever they can to prevent- Where are you going?" Jet asked suddenly, as Spike got up and began to walk to the hangar.  
  
"To find information," Spike replied calmly as he continued to stroll towards the Swordfish.  
  
"Wait, Spike!" Jet called after him, but it was ineffective.  
  
"Spike-person go bye bye!" Ed giggled while waving good-bye to Spike.  
  
"The bounty came direct from ISSP, ya know," Faye said, looking at Jet.  
  
"Did it?" he asked in mild surprise. Faye nodded slightly in response. Jet turned and began to follow in Spike's footsteps toward the hangar.  
  
"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Faye shouted.  
  
"To find information," Jet said, echoing Spike's reply.  
  
Faye shot up from the yellow couch and rounded on him. "Oh no you don't! You can't leave me alone!"  
  
"You're not alone. You have Ed and Ein," he said with a smirk as he vanished into the hangar.  
  
Faye glared after Jet and grunted. "Faye-Faye, Ed, and Ein! Faye-Faye, Ed, and Ein!" Ed sung merrily as she tossed Ein into the air and caught him again. "We can have fun, Faye-Faye!"  
  
Faye sighed deeply and hung her head. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N: It's short, I know, but it's only the first chapter. Also, I want to see what (if any) feedback I get, before doing a longer and more time- consuming chapter. As long as I get positive reviews, then expect more. ^_^() If I don't. well, I don't know what will happen next. o_0 See ya Space Cowboy Hard Luck Woman 


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